4. Discussion

4.1 Key findings

The amount of vitamin C decreased significantly in the oranges placed in room temperature and near a heat source. The amount of vitamin C left in the oranges placed in the refrigerator was more compared to the amount of vitamin C left in the other oranges in the different locations.

4.2 Explanation of key findings

It was concluded that the orange placed in the refrigerator had the most amount of vitamin C left was because the temperature of the refrigerator, which was about 5℃, slowed down the degrading process of the orange and the vitamin C in the oranges. As the temperature of the surroundings decrease, the activity of the enzymes present in the vitamin C also slows down, leading to the slower degradation of the vitamin C present in the oranges.

4.3 Evaluation of hypothesis

According to the results, it can be concluded that the orange kept in the refrigerator retained the most amount of vitamin C. From this it can be deduced that the hypothesis for this experiment is correct. The average temperature of the refrigerator was 5℃, in the temperature range of the hypothesis. Based on this, it has been proved why vegetables and fruits are kept in refrigerators. Not only do they stay fresh, but this way they retain the most amount of their tamins.

4.4 Areas for improvement

Burets could have been used to ensure the reliability and the accuracy of the results since burets can measure the amount of iodine solution mixed into the orange juice/control solution to two decimal places.

Formulas should be used to estimate the amount of vitamin C present in the oranges rather than roughly estimating it by the amount of iodine solution used for titration on different days. Instead of a table lamp that emits not only heat but also light, another source of mild heat like a heater should have been used to create the condition of: near a heat source. This would increase the fairness of the experiments as a different factor, light, will not be included any longer.